If you have children or younger siblings, then it’s time to start exciting them with the idea of ​​an upcoming flight to the stars using real toys that they can easily make with you.
This magnificent toy demonstrates the principle of jet propulsion, but can also be made in life size for powering a small boat.
And if you’re not completely “extinguished” yet, it will be interesting to make this amazing jet toy, which, if desired, can even be equipped with a radio control removed from an old, unnecessary children’s toy.
Such models were collected by creative children all over the world (see pictures), and they were even produced at one time as finished goods or constructor.

The model is very simple to manufacture, does not require any adjustment, and is very effective in operation.
It is based on a pulsating jet engine, which, when operating in water, puffs very effectively and throws out foam from behind, like a real steamship.
The source of energy is a piece wax candle, wick on vegetable oil or kerosene, or even a converted gas lighter.
The engine structure is visible in the figures. This is simply a coil of thin copper or aluminum or other metal tube, both ends of which are immersed in water, and the coil itself is heated by a candle or wick.
To start the engine, first inject a few drops of water into it (into the ring) with a syringe, light the flame and put the boat in the water.
The principle of operation, like all pulsating engines, is based on the explosion of an instantly boiling drop of water and subsequent discharge - on an instant, explosive release of steam, and then sucking new portions of water into an empty tube. The fact is that steam rushing outward creates jet thrust in the water and escapes from the tube entirely by inertia. The pressure in the tube instantly drops below atmospheric pressure, and drops of water rush into the tube. They immediately boil again with an explosion and everything repeats itself...
You can install a small tin propeller - supposedly a propeller, rotating freely on a nail near the output tubes from the rear. It will rotate very effectively when the boat moves and foam the water.
Of course, the movement will not arise from the propeller itself, but vice versa, but who will know that?! Even if you then take the model in your hand, not every literate person will understand how the propeller rotates, and why this steamboat moves so impressively with a characteristic “squealing” sound...
The model develops decent speed and can be used for organizing small competitions.
Tiny models of this type can be launched in a regular bathtub.
A boat, steamship or boat is glued together from ordinary Whatman paper or thin cardboard. Then they are painted with paints or felt-tip pens, and then they are necessarily covered with several layers of quick-drying colorless varnish.
You can immediately paint it with nitro paint from a car spray can.
The model can be cut out of foam plastic or made in any other way.
To add credibility and beauty, you can install a foil smoke exhaust pipe above the candle or wick and paint it.
For work, you can use nitra glue from tubes.
The last photo shows a speedboat with a twin engine (two motors and two wicks) whose heater is fueled by a lighter (shown nearby).

IN Soviet time Kids didn't have Barbies, Playstation, or radio-controlled helicopters. But so many interesting things could be found at the nearest factory, at a construction site or, sorry, at a landfill. Saltpeter, carbide, metal shavings, and finally the same copper tubes and brass plates. According to the ancient Soviet recipe, a water-jet engine was built like this: the shell was removed from a large D-type battery, the central electrode and all contents were removed. The ship modeler was interested in a zinc cup. The upper two-thirds of the cup was cut off with a hacksaw, the edges were smoothed with scissors, and two holes were drilled in the resulting “saucepan” for copper pipes. The tubes were soldered with ordinary tin. Cut from a brass plate round lid and also soldered to the “saucepan”. The lid was then pressed down slightly to create a movable membrane. By blowing into the tubes, it was possible to make the membrane click. It is better to make the boiler as small as possible: the smaller the volume of water inside the engine, the faster it will start.

It makes sense to place pipelines on a ship so that a significant part of the pipes is below the waterline. Water in in this case plays the role of a cooler. The faster the steam cools in the pipes, the more reliable the engine operates. When designing the hull of a ship, remember that the steel tubes from the “eight” weigh a lot. The volume and displacement of the boat must correspond to the substantial mass of the engine and spark plug.

Before turning on, the engine should be completely filled with water using a syringe. The design has exactly two tubes, and not one, to facilitate “filling”: while water is poured into one nozzle, air comes out of the other. The ship is built so that both tubes are constantly immersed in water. When a candle is placed under the cauldron, the water in it heats up and begins to boil. The resulting vapors push water out of the boiler. Passing through the tubes, the water cools, the pressure in the boiler drops, and the engine sucks the water back. Thus, a constant back-and-forth movement of the water column occurs in the pipes.

After pouring some ink into the engine, we were able to see the water jet in all its glory. The photo shows how far and collected the steam engine hits. It is not surprising that with such thrust the ship rapidly rushes forward.

The simplest steam water jet can be made without a boiler at all. It is enough to bend the pipe in several turns directly above the candle in the manner of a boiler. The boiler is made for special effects: the bending membrane makes a loud rattling sound. Despite the fact that the water column moves in both directions with equal amplitude, the engine pushes the boat forward. This is due to the fact that all the water is pushed out of the tubes in one direction, but is sucked in from all sides.

Attempts to find a replacement for what is rare these days copper tubes and brass plates led us to the following solution: the brake line from the VAZ 2108 car became an excellent pipe. It fits perfectly in diameter, is well soldered and, most importantly, is sold in any car store.

Steam water jet can be called a two-stroke engine. During the first stroke, the water in the boiler heats up and reaches boiling point. The resulting steam pushes water out of the boiler and drives it through the pipes. During the second stroke, the hot water in the pipes cools, the pressure in the system drops, and the water is again sucked into the boiler. The release of water occurs in a strictly defined direction, and the suction occurs from all sides. Therefore, on the first beat the ship pushes forward, but on the second it does not move back.

The membrane is a delicate matter, in every sense of the word. With such a small diameter of the lid, its material must be very soft and pliable. After several unsuccessful attempts, we made a membrane from an aluminum cup from the cheapest tea light. It is very thin, soft, and sounds good. The only negative is that aluminum cannot be soldered. Instead of soldering, we used a 10-minute two-part epoxy glue. Concerns about its durability in harsh temperature conditions were not justified. If the engine is working correctly, the cup does not get too hot - this is the thermodynamic cycle of the water jet.

The engine performance is impressive. Its power is sufficient to push the ship forward, creating streams of water visible to the naked eye behind. To be honest, we were unable to get the car to really bright sound, as in grandfather's times. So it looks like the membrane material is still worth experimenting with. We sincerely wish you good luck in your search for brass plates!

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Children of all ages love to make and float boats. Those who are older may be interested in the proposed design of an unusual toy boat, driven by... a candle. Like a huge steamship, it also has a steam boiler and firebox, but there are no moving mechanisms.

But the boat itself is moving. What pushes him forward?

A steam boiler is a small narrow tube (preferably bronze), bent so that its spiral middle is above the candle, and the ends at the stern of the boat go into the water. As soon as you fill the tube with water and, having lowered the steamboat into the water, place a candle under the spiral of the tube, the little boat will set sail on its own.

The flame, heating the tube, helps to displace warm water, in the place of which they are instantly sucked in, heated up, and at that very moment new portions of it are thrown out, pushing the boat forward.

Toy steamer:

3superstructure;

4 steam boiler;

Such an engine can be built into any floating hull. But, taking into account the presence of a flame, and, accordingly, the threat of a fire on the ship, it is better to make a body from tin using a soldering iron.

Deck superstructures are likely to be designed so that they can accommodate a steam boiler. The design of the latter is also possibly different; The options for bending the tube at the heating point shown in the figure supply different engine power.

Engine diagram: 1 toy body; 2 steam boiler (bronze tube); 3 narrow (a bowl with a burning candle); 4tube finishes, weekend; Aspirated version of the steam boiler; Side-knee option. The firebox with a candle does not have to be hidden in the superstructure. But this option is more spectacular: the device itself is not visible from the outside, and the reflections of the flame in the windows of the superstructures bring the boat to life, especially at dusk.

According to the publication Ezermester (Hungary)

How to make a mini steam boat with a candle with your own hands / How to make a steam boat with a candle

Hi all. My review is dedicated to those who are tired of modern, complex radio-controlled toys with a bunch of electronics inside. Meet: a wonderful boat, with steam engine, powered by the heat of a candle. This is exactly the toy whose operating principle you can easily explain to your child :)

Actually, I have long wanted such a boat. There was even an idea to solder myself, from tin can, but recently I came across a ready-made one and bought it. The seller turned out to be a little fraudulent and sent it without a track, although the page stated that they were sent by normal mail. However, everything arrived quite quickly. The boat is completely metal, comes in a box, and includes two candles, an iron tray and a plastic straw. Apparently, to fill the tubes of the boat with water.




The build quality of the boat leaves much to be desired, so it was decided to disassemble it and do everything in a normal way. Inside the boat there is a “steam boiler”, which is a small volume chamber with a flexible brass membrane on top. There are 2 tubes attached to the bottom of the chamber, which are led out over the side of the ship. To remove the boiler, there was no need to disassemble the boat, everything works out just like that.

The tubes going overboard were glued with something like superglue and were hanging loose. So I soldered them. Surprisingly, the paint did not peel off from the heat.

The principle of operation is very simple: when a chamber pre-filled with water is heated with candles, the liquid boils, the pressure rises, and the steam, pushing the water through the tubes, moves the boat forward. The steam then condenses, creating a vacuum, and the water is sucked back into the boiler. The cycle repeats.
All this is accompanied by cool sounds made by the bending membrane. Looks like it's working small motor. That's why the boat is called PopPop boat, because of the sounds it makes.
You can read more in detail in the bourgeois Wikipedia at the request of PopPop Boat
The article is interesting, but English language. The toy was popular in the 50s of the last century, and was invented even earlier.

And of course, a video of the work. The main thing is not to forget to fill the tubes with water before starting. Otherwise nothing will work.

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